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“Our federal debt is like slavery? Slavery was horrific, vile, a vile practice that was explicitly based on race. So it’s hard to avoid sounding racist when you make comparisons like that,” Sharpton said on his MSNBC show “Politics Nation” on Monday night. “This kind of talk has no place in our political debate. But Palin doesn’t seem to care. She only cares about throwing red meat to the right wing.”

The longtime civil rights leader was responding to remarks from Palin over the weekend, in which she criticized the U.S. borrowing from China.

“This isn’t racist, but it’s going to be like slavery when that note is due, right? We are going to be beholden to a foreign master,” Palin said.

Sharpton also played another clip of Palin calling President Barack Obama’s and the left’s agenda a “dictatorship,” saying it’s why she has low approval numbers.

“A dictatorship? This stuff might work with the rabid right-wing audience, but not with the rest of America. In swing states, Palin’s approval rating now stands at just 26 percent. 26 percent,” Sharpton said.

He called on the GOP to reject Palin’s model.

“Here’s the thing. Republicans in Congress have been having their cues taken from her for years. In fact, they sound just like Sarah Palin,” Sharpton said. “It’s one thing for Sarah Palin to have low approval ratings, but the tea party’s approval rating is even worse — just 21 percent nationwide, a record low. And the Republican Party’s approval rating is also at a record low, 24 percent. It’s time for the GOP to reject Palin’s brand of extremism instead of copying it.”